Coffee, choirs and ballet

Hit the road, Jack - we're going to Vienna!! :D Folks, Vienna is a beautiful city - not to mention my hostel! Swish! Once again we have swipecards (like Berlin), but this time the cards open our *lockers* as well!

A quick rundown on my activities: Yesterday we (Nicole and I) went and queued up to see the Viennese Boys Choir! Wow - in a church funnily enough! They were great! We had great standing spots, but I ended up having a coughing fit after their 2nd number (due to the copious amounts of incense they were throwing around), so I had to elbow my way through the crowd back outside - I ended up watching it on a screen in the foyer which was better, anyway! Until of course, they came down from the balcony and stood right up near the altar. Then I couldn't see a thing. But the whole service was in German, so no matter where I was standing it was going to be interesting.

After that, we wandered 'round town for a bit (saw the library which was amazing!), then last night we went to the ballet! Talk about excellent! Never been to the ballet before, and to see it in Vienna was particularly exciting - we saw Coppelia. By then though, my coughing had receded somewhat, it's just that I had three *very* large people sitting in front of me - one of the ladies had hair like a raccoon. Seriously. It was shameful. Her hairdresser should be shot. In some country somewhere I'm sure it would be illegal to have hair that bad.

Today we went and visited a massive palace (Schloss Charlottenburg) which has beautiful, beautiful rooms. Did my first "audio" tour which was a little interesting - it's good though - it means you can zoom on through if you're not really interested in something or pushed for time . . . The grounds are pretty extensive, too, so much so they even have a miniature zoo. Hmmm . . . Anyone who can afford to have their own private miniature zoo obviously has too much money. Oh, and when I say "miniature" zoo, I don't mean all the animals are "miniature", I mean that they just have less on display than your stock-standard zoo. Up on top of the hill they also have an excellent vantage point of the city - talk about some great photos! Another walk back through the gardens and a final dinner with some friends was a lovely way to top it all off.

Food highlights: I know you're going to think this is really weird, but in Vienna I found the *best* Indian I have ever eaten in my life - I had no idea that that was what Rogan Josh was meant to taste like!! Mmmm...! We also went to an other place (no, not on the same night!) that had something we dubbed the "Excalibur" which is one meal with enough food for about 6 people... Basically they bring out a massive sword mounted on a stand with 6 schnitzels and 6 pork chops (with some kind of basting). Underneath the sword are chips, chilli con carne and some chicken wings (with some other kind of basting). Talk about major meat overload! Now I'm a pretty good carnivore in the best of circumstances, but this was even too much for me!! Phew! What an effort. :D Needless to say we didn't finish it. Bargain meal!